Stones: A touch of dramatic lighting. Midnight black bg.

[JBW]

Still JPEG and manual. I set it up on the dark side an then intensified the over all image. Every now and again I just have to play on the dark side

[Geoff F]

Nothing harsh here, just a nice gradual merge from light to dark.

[JBW]

Nothing harsh here, just a nice gradual merge from light to dark.

Thanks, even with the camera set way to the dark side I still needed to take the bg down a notch or two.

[Shadowman]

Nice effort, although I think when going dark colors should be minimized as much as possible as they (the colors) shouldn't dominate the composition.

[JBW]

Nice effort, although I think when going dark colors should be minimized as much as possible as they (the colors) shouldn't dominate the composition.

I may not understand you. To my eyes this shot is dominated by three colors. Red green and black.

[Shadowman]

I may not understand you. To my eyes this shot is dominated by three colors. Red green and black.

Hi Brian,


To me going dark is about emphasizing shapes, darks and lights, by including color it highlights other imagery; as an abstract you might be looking for this effect.

[xpatUSA]

Thanks, even with the camera set way to the dark side . .

As in under-exposed?

. . I still needed to take the b/g down a notch or two.

I like the way the objects (pestle and mortar?) seem to float because of that very dark background.

[JBW]

Hi Brian,


To me going dark is about emphasizing shapes, darks and lights, by including color it highlights other imagery; as an abstract you might be looking for this effect.

ahhh, you would suggest a monochromatic version?

[JBW]

As in under-exposed?



I like the way the objects (pestle and mortar?) seem to float because of that very dark background.

I used a dark bg and base with a small spot light to highlight the stones. To get the stones properly exposed the bg ended up at -2. I had hoped that this alone would hide the textured bg and base but it didn't. I ended up taking the bg down even further. So I'm not sure if i under or properly exposed.
The 'mortar and pestle' is in reality two stones from the dirt road we live beside.

[Cogito]

I may not understand you. To my eyes this shot is dominated by three colors. Red green and black.

Then why not accentuate them?

[JBW]

Then why not accentuate them?

actually I did. Not as much as you. But I did. The red stone is actually quite dull.

[MrB]

Still JPEG and manual. I set it up on the dark side an then intensified the over all image. Every now and again I just have to play on the dark side

This is unusual and looks rather good to me Brian. It begs the questions, does it matter that it was developed from a JPEG, and what would you have done differently if you had the raw file?

Philip

[JBW]

This is unusual and looks rather good to me Brian. It begs the questions, does it matter that it was developed from a JPEG, and what would you have done differently if you had the raw file?

Philip

To answer the question: If I had shot in RAW and my Capture One was available (hard drive replacement) then there would have been two more tools and a fair bit more room to maneuver. Between Gimp and Capture 1 there is a big difference.

If i had capture 1 up and running I would have used more layers, added a hint of colour here and there and would probably have had to go into Gimp to truly darken the bg

[sachtjen]

Looks like a nicely marbled and aged cut of beef. Maybe a bottom round?

[JBW]

Looks like a nicely marbled and aged cut of beef. Maybe a bottom round?

it does indeed